Carothers joins list of shame

Alderman, like his dad and 27 others, convicted of wrongdoing

The booming preacher's voice he often used to staunchly defend Mayor Richard Daley's policies at City Hall was missing Monday as a stone-faced Ald. Isaac "Ike" Carothers quietly pleaded guilty in federal court to bribery and tax charges, bringing to 29 the number of aldermen -- his father included -- to be convicted over the last four decades.

The felony conviction capped a stunning fall for Carothers, who admitted his guilt in exchange for a 28-month prison term. Carothers was that rare alderman who agreed to work undercover for federal authorities, wearing a wire and secretly recording other public officials and businessmen. Next month he is scheduled to testify at the trial of a developer accused of providing Carothers with $40,000 in home improvements for backing a controversial project in his 29th Ward.

FOR THE RECORD - This story contains corrected material, published Feb. 4, 2010.

His plea agreement revealed he also took thousands of dollars in cash from others who wanted his help.

Carothers, an alderman since 1999, immediately tendered his resignation Monday in a letter to Daley.

"Please keep me and my family in your prayers," he wrote. "It has indeed been a pleasure serving with you and other members of the Chicago City Council."

Even on a City Council full of strong personalities, Carothers, 55, was known as a bit of a political bully and had the bluster to match his sizable frame. Ever a Daley defender, he spoke on the council floor with the assuredness of colleagues with decades more experience and was not above belittling those who did not side with the mayor.

"He certainly was a caricature of the West Side ward boss," said Ald. Joe Moore, 49th. "Watching him in action was sort of like watching a film clip from 40 years ago. He did not change with the times. He had the typical approach of the stereotypical politician -- sort of a 'what's in it for me' attitude."

His guilty plea came 27 years after his father, William, a former alderman, was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison for strikingly similar behavior -- trying to extort as much as $32,500 worth of remodeling work at his ward office in exchange for permits needed for a hospital expansion.

"This is the first father-son case we've had among the aldermen," said Dick Simpson, a former alderman himself who is a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Carothers also becomes the first sitting Chicago alderman in the last quarter century to agree to testify in court as part of a criminal plea deal, according to records kept by Simpson's department at UIC. Two former aldermen have previously made such agreements, those records indicate.

In pleading guilty Monday, Carothers admitted he had personally profited by backing zoning changes for a controversial project sought by developer Calvin Boender. The work at Carothers' home included fresh coats of paint inside and outside as well as new windows, security doors and central air conditioning, authorities said.

Carothers paid for none of the work, according to court records, and Boender never sent a bill.

He pleaded guilty to one count of failing to report the home improvements on his income tax return and to one count of corruptly accepting items of value for supporting a zoning change for the project. No sentencing date was set to allow him to complete his cooperation.

Carothers' written plea deal also provided fresh details about how the alderman lined his pockets through other allegedly corrupt dealings with developers and with the organizer of a neighborhood carnival.

When the undisclosed carnival organizer needed city permits and wanted to use public park facilities in Carothers' ward, the organizer told the alderman that "something was in it" for his support. Starting in 2004, the organizer paid $10,000 to Carothers for backing two carnival events.

In another allegedly corrupt dealing, an undisclosed developer handed over envelopes stuffed with $15,500 in cash to Carothers in exchange for the alderman's support for a potential development, according to the plea agreement.

Sources told the Tribune that the developer was John Thomas, who was convicted of federal fraud and money-laundering charges in New York in 2004 and became an undercover FBI mole in an investigation into political corruption and real estate crimes. The payments were made from November 2006 through January 2007 during a series of meeting with Carothers.

But for reasons not made clear in his plea agreement, Carothers "became uncomfortable" and repaid the money with a check from his campaign fund.

Thomas, reached by telephone Monday, declined to talk about the FBI sting on Carothers or any aspect of the investigation.

"I wish him the best," Thomas said. "I have moved on from the past."

But it is the alleged bribery by Boender that is at the center of the case. Neither Boender nor his lawyers could be reached Monday for comment.